With 2012 in the books, it’s a good time to look back at the stories that struck a chord with our executive readership. Every day this week we’ll be looking at a different aspect of environmental and sustainability management and counting down the top stories that grabbed your attention this year. Today’s topic: supply chains.
Here are Environmental Leader’s top 15 supply chain stories for 2012, based on reader interest:
15. Survey: Sustainability an ‘Important Factor’ in Supply Chain Choices
Seventy-two percent of US companies say sustainability influences their purchasing decisions and is an important factor when selecting a service provider, according to a survey by cloud computing firm Rackspace Hosting. Outside of the US, 91 percent of companies said sustainability has been built into their purchasing decisions on either a periodic or standard basis...
14. Walmart Sustainability Report: Supplier Scorecards to Launch in 100 Categories this Year
In its 2012 Global Responsibility Report, Walmart said it expected to develop supplier scorecards in up to 100 major product categories by the end of this year, in the latest stage of development for its Sustainability Index. The move follows efforts last year to integrate the index into Walmart’s business...
13. PwC Report: Materials Shortage Threatens Manufacturing
Seven core manufacturing industries – including the renewable energy sector – could be seriously affected by a shortage of minerals and metals, which could disrupt entire supply chains and economies, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers...
12. Sustainability to Dominate Packaging Industry in 10 Years
Sustainability will replace cost as one of the packaging industry’s major challenges within 10 years, according to a study conducted by Packaging World and DuPont. The report also suggests that to effectively implement sustainable packaging changes, companies should start with life cycle assessment of their current packaging, and should follow this by adjusting ongoing supply chain planning...
11. Ikea Accused of Logging Old-Growth Forests
A subsidiary of furniture retailer Ikea is logging old-growth forests and other high conservation value forests in western Russia, according to the Global Forestry Coalition. GFC – an alliance of NGOs from more than 40 countries – alleges that Ikea’s wholly owned logging subsidiary Swedwood has been clear-cutting forests in high biodiversity value areas and logging very old trees in parts of the Russian Karelia region...
10. Dole Accused of Environmental Destruction, Greenwashing
A lawsuit filed against Dole Food accuses the fruit and vegetable company of misleading consumers about the sustainability of banana-growing practices at a contractor’s plantation in Guatemala...
9. Food Waste ‘Causes Losses Throughout the Supply Chain’
Grocery stores and other retail food sellers are losing as much as $15 billion a year in unsold fruits and vegetables alone, with about half of the U.S. supply going uneaten, according to an analysis on food waste by the National Resources Defense Council. The report found inefficiencies and losses in the U.S. food system through the supply chain, including farms; during processing, distribution and storage; in retail stores and food service operations; and in households...
8. US Airways, Shutterfly Drop Sustainable Forestry Initiative
US Airways, Shutterfly, Energizer, Allied Electronics, Phillips Van Heusen, Pitney Bowes and Ruby Tuesday will stop using the Sustainable Forestry Initiative seal on their products, bringing to 21 the number of major brands distancing themselves from the eco-label, according to non-profit ForestEthics. Many of these companies also have made commitments to shift over to products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council...
7. The Benefits of Life Cycle Analysis
"Assessing sustainability is a pursuit rife with complexity and subjectivity," writes Elisabeth Comere, director of environmental and governmental affairs at Tetra Pak. She reveals the insights her company has gained through use of life cycle analysis...
6. Walmart Sustainability Index ‘Ahead of Schedule’
Walmart said its Live Better Scorecard – the company’s sustainability index to assess the environmental impacts of its products – is ahead of schedule, but did not say when it would be completed. The company also made announcements related to its monitoring of beef suppliers, and the installation of its biggest solar array to date...
5. What 2011 Taught Us about the Green Supply Chain (and What It Means for 2012)
David Schatsky recaps the blizzard of corporate sustainability news in 2011, much of which held important lessons surround sustainability in the supply chain...
4. Study: Organic Rice Syrup Linked to High-Arsenic Baby Formula
Dartmouth College researchers found arsenic in commercially available organic brown rice syrups – and the products that contain them. The researchers found that an organic infant milk formula containing the syrup as a primary ingredient had total arsenic concentrations up to six times the EPA safe drinking water limit...
3. San Francisco Suspends Apple Purchases
San Francisco’s city government said it will no longer buy Apple desktops, laptops or monitors after the company decided to withdraw its products from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool registry. The company later decided to rejoin EPEAT...
2. Kmart, Supervalu, 6 Other Supermarkets Drop APP Toilet Paper over Forest Concerns
Kmart, Kroger, BI-LO, Harris Teeter, Supervalu, Weis Markets, Brookshire Grocery Company and Delhaize Group (owner of Food Lion) all decided to stop carrying tissue products made with fiber from Asia Pulp & Paper, the World Wildlife Fund said. The organization charged that APP is destroying Indonesian rain forests and tiger habitats...
1. P&G Makes Sustainability Analysis Tool Freely Available; Heineken Rolls Out Supply Chain Analyzer
Procter & Gamble said it will make its environmental sustainability scorecard analysis tool freely available to for use by any company. Meanwhile, Heineken announced that it will use an EcoVadis platform to monitor risks within its supplier base, spanning more than a 100 countries, and at the same time to identify innovative sustainability practices among suppliers...
